Merry Christmas, Faith
by Dancerslife
Summary: It's that time of year again. Christmas time. Will has someone new to share it with. A Collection of Christmas one-shots with Will and his daughter Faith.
1. Chapter 1

_I love Christmas. I absolutely adore it.  
_

_This is going to be a collection of Christmas stories with Faith and Will. 25 count in all. _

_Read and review. It would be greatly appreciated. _

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_Faith's first Christmas – Age: 6 months. _

She was just over six months old now, Faith was. The girl was rolling herself over, lifting herself up on her hands and making attempts to crawl. She's get so far and then it was like she was too heavy for her knees and she flattened herself out. It made her laugh and giggle unperturbed by the fact that she couldn't do it yet.

Mackenzie had post pregnancy books that she read every night. Her end table had a new book almost every night and if it wasn't a book it was an article that she had someone print for her. Faith slept with them, in their room, until Mackenzie was confident her daughter was capable of sleeping through the night.

Now Faith was on her play rug with that jingle jangle thing, Sloan bought for her and all her toys scattered around her. She was starting to teeth so all her toys were soft things, and her favorite toy, a little bear was always at hands reach. That thing was pretty much soaked through from her constant gnawing.

"What time did Sloan say she would be here?" Mackenzie asked, wiping her hands off on the towel in the kitchen. "She said something about coming early to help set up but everything is done."

"You started setting up a week ago, Mac," Will commented, looking up from his spot on the floor with Faith. She was on her back now, playing with one of the things dangling from her play thing. "I'm surprised you found something to do."

"I should probably change her," Mackenzie commented, coming over and sitting on the edge of the couch.

Mackenzie had changed into a pair of beige pants a red and white blouse and black heels. Ever since Faith was born Mackenzie slipped her feet into a pair of heels every day, determined to get her feet used to them again.

Faith was in a red, white and green onesie, a little elf on the front. Another gift from an employee at ACN. Mackenzie had bought her a dress, a little red and white dress with a matching little coat. Completely over the top for a six-month old, but it worked for Faith.

Will pulled himself up and off the floor, wincing at the crack in his knee. It was the damn weather. He leaned over and pulled his daughter up and off the floor, turning her in his arms so she was resting against his shoulder. Her little knees pressed into his chest, her arms over his shoulder.

"I have to change too," Will shrugged. "Might as well change her while I'm at it."

"Wonderful man," Mackenzie commented, pressing her lips to his. "Her dress is in the bathroom."

"I saw it," he nodded, turning away from Mackenzie.

He bounced Faith as she began to babble in his ear. She giggled that bubbly laugh and he set her down on the bed, pressing down on the corner watching her as she bounced. Will shook his head and set up the pillows along the bed. He knew Faith would flip herself over but she wasn't crawling yet.

But it would be him with his back turned for Faith to teach herself in that split second and her heading over the edge of the bed.

"Okay," he said, lifting her up again, going into the bathroom. "You get to come with me then."

His bathroom wasn't this grand thing. Not like Mackenzie would have liked. It wasn't big enough nearly for the three of them in the morning when Mackenzie wants to change her and he wants to shower and – it just was too damn small.

"You think this is cute?" Will asked, hanging up the dress he was going to put on his daughter. She just had this gummy barely there toothy grin and he shook his head. "Yeah yeah. Don't tell Mom, but I think it's cute."

He slipped off the onesie, sitting Faith up on the counter. She kicked her legs out, jerking back, her head nearly hitting the faucet to the sink. He hated when she did that. Took matters into her own hand, figured he was playing with her when he wasn't. He just wanted to change her. And he knew she didn't need a diaper change because he did that earlier.

"Okay, kid," Will said, slipping an arm through one of the holes, doing the same with the other. She had little leggings that went with the outfit, little footsie things that were red. It had traction on the bottom so when they stood her up, she wouldn't slip. All a part of the plan.

He picked her up and held her at arms-length, listening as the whir of the elevator sounded behind him. The wall of his bathroom wasn't necessarily thin, but it wasn't soundproof.

"Looks like someone is here," he muttered, walking out, propping her on his hip.

Mackenzie had the living room picked up. Faith's blanket and all her toys were away, the table brought back to the middle as it should be.

"Hello sweetheart," Mackenzie grinned, reaching out for Faith who went to her mother willingly. She looked at Will, her eyes wide. He still wasn't changed. "_Go._"

He nodded at her dumbly and stumbled out of the living room, just as the doors slid open. The clack of heels indicated it was Sloan. The high pitched coo that usually came from the woman sounded just as Will closed his bedroom door.

Dinner had gone by nicely. People were in and out, each having something to do for the holidays. Faith had been given two piece pajama sets, onesies, and more toys for her to play with. Another blanket for her from Maggie. It was all in all a really good night.

There was no tree, not really needing one since Faith was too young to remember anything and they didn't want to deal with buying one. Real or fake. They didn't need it.

"Will you change her?" Mackenzie asked, Faith fast asleep on her chest.

Will was picking up, throwing out discarded plates and cups. Throwing food away off the china that had been used. He wiped his hands and nodded.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Exhausted," she simpered, pressing her palm against Faith's sleeping form. The little girl's mouth was partially open, her breath warm against Mackenzie's chest. "She'll probably sleep for the rest of the night."

"Yeah," he agreed. He lifted Faith off Mackenzie, listening to the whimpers from the baby. Her face scrunched up, her little blue eyes that were a dark grey almost starting to tear up, but she just shut them closed and relaxed in his arms. "Sleep. I got her."

Mackenzie muttered an 'okay,' and Will watched as she curled into the back of the couch, fully intent on sleeping. He shook his head. When he was ready to go to bed, he would wake her up. If he left her on the couch she would be pissed the next morning because her back hurt.

Faith's room was dimly lit. Her little night light, courtesy of her mother, was against the changing wall. Her crib's bars were down from this morning when Mackenzie took her out from the only nap she was going to get for the day.

Will opted not to set her down, but to sit in the rocking chair that Mackenzie had sat in when Faith was a newborn. He stood in the doorway for hours watching Mackenzie and Faith sleep, Mackenzie feeding Faith, Mackenzie on the floor with Faith. These were his girls. His family.

He cradled Faith in the crook of his arm. Pushing his feet off the ground, rocking the chair back and forth, Will curled his toes in the carpet. It was soft for the baby and comfortable to lay on. He would know since he spent many of his nights in here, listening to her breath, letting Mackenzie sleep.

Truth be told, he liked putting Faith to bed. It gave him a chance to clear his head. To relax from the day. Most of the time, Mackenzie urges him to put her to bed, knowing it would relax him. Holding his child, being a Dad far from what his father was, calmed him. She knew that. And he was glad.

His daughter's first Christmas ended with him humming her a song. One his mother would sing to put him to sleep.

_Hark! How the bells, sweet silver bells all seem to say, "Throw cares away." Christmas is here, bringing good cheer _


	2. All Aboard, Faith

_Thank you so much for the reviews! I really do appreciate them. Let's keep them coming._

_Here is another chapter for you. Something I forgot to mention before is the ages will jump. So here Faith is four when yesterday she was six months. Tomorrow she might be 18 or she'll be 6. Who knows._

_I have a graphic with this over at my tumblr. Feel free to look at it._

_Once again, thank you for the reviews. I appreciate the feedback._

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_All aboard, Faith– Age: 4 years old_

Will heard the door creak as Mackenzie bit into the palm of his hand. Faith knew she wasn't allowed into the bedroom if the door wasn't wide open like normal. They never closed it all the way in the case the girl had bad dreams, but it was barely five in the morning and Will had just gotten - he heard the little patter of feet as he rocked into Mackenzie one last time, feeling her shudder underneath him.

He dropped down next to her, listening for his daughter on the other side. He could just see her now on the other side of that door. Her thumb was most likely propped in her mouth as she paced in front of the door, her eyes on the Christmas Tree that took up the corner of what once was his office.

Will pressed his lips to Mackenzie's bare shoulder before rolling away from her, searching for the pair of sweats Mackenzie threw away from them. They had dinner with the ACN crew, a sort of tradition that started when Faith turned two. It was an informal invitation last year and it was Maggie who asked what to bring this year and everything else sort of just fell into place.

It wasn't until after midnight when the last person left, Faith had been in bed for some time and it was then that Mackenzie decided to bring out the presents to wrap for their daughter.

Will was coming back from taking a bite of the cookie Faith had made with Sloan earlier in the week and drinking half the glass of milk that Mackenzie decided she didn't want to sleep anymore and ravished him. Not that he minded. Nap time was for everyone he assumed.

Now it was five in the morning and his daughter was awake, most likely wanting to self-combust at the site of the tree lit up with all the presents.

"You could come out," Will said, pressing his hand against Mackenzie's lower back. She shook her head, throwing a look at him.

"It's before sunrise," she pointed out. "She's your daughter until the sun comes up."

Will rolled his eyes and pressed a kiss to her lips before straightening out his t-shirt and opened the door wide enough for him to slip through.

Sure enough Faith was in front of his bedroom door, her attention on the tree with her thumb in her mouth.

A firm hand on her head made her jump, her thumb dropping to her side. Will laughed and shook his head.

"What are you doing up, Faith?" Will asked, walking over to the couch. Faith followed him happily, crawling up the couch, her small feet digging into his thighs as she curled halfway on to his lap.

"Santa," Faith said, pointing at the cookies and glass that was half gone. "He came."

Faith said it in a whisper with a tone of pure disbelief. Her friends at the nursery they sent her to twice a week were all a buzz about Santa. He and Mackenzie rarely brought up the jolly man, not really caring if his daughter believed in a fictitious man or not. But one afternoon, Faith was running through the bullpen of the Newsroom, screaming about Santa.

"I didn't hear him," Will said, curling an arm around Faith's waist. The girl was squirming and the silent gesture stopped her. Worked every time. "His reindeer's are quiet this year."

"He has reindeer?" She asked, her voice still in disbelief. She laid her head down on his chest and snuggled into her Dad.

"Got nine of them," Will said. Faith's blue eyes were so wide, sparkled with amazement.

"Woah," she whispered, her eyes focused now on the tree. Then she sat up, the top of her head snapping Will's head back; her head collided with his chin.

Faith took Will's face into her hands so carefully, her eyes wide just like Mackenzie's when Will was in some sort of pain. He opened his eyes and grinned at his daughter, watching her shoulders drop with satisfaction.

"You want to go see if we can see him outside?" Will asked.

Faith nodded excitedly and jumped off the couch, her body going over, her own head nearly colliding with the table. Will's heart was in his throat. He did not want to wake up Mackenzie because their daughter got the clumsy gene and cracked her head against the table. But the girl righted herself up immediately and scampered off to her bedroom.

Will took the opportunity to go get a coat, a throw blanket that would be big enough for the both of them and tell Mackenzie where they'd be so when she did wake up with the sun as she usually did, she wouldn't freak out when neither of them where in the apartment.

He was putting his arm through the second sleeve of his jacket when Mackenzie stirred. The sheet slipped as she rolled over, causing him to give her a smug look. Not caring, she blinked her eyes open and eyed him.

"Where are you going?" She asked, taking note of her condition and fixing herself.

"Faith wants to see Santa," Will said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. Mackenzie had rolled over into the middle as she did almost every night. "We're going to sit outside."

"Make sure she has a coat and her slippers," Mackenzie ordered in a tone that she used when she worked, when she was in his ear. He shook his head and then nodded. "I don't want her getting sick."

"Yes, mother," Will retorted, standing before she could hit him.

"Daddy," they heard whispered on the other side of the door. He had closed it behind him ever so much for Faith to get the idea to wait.

"Go," Mackenzie said. "I'll be out in a bit."

Will found Faith standing by the big window that only Mommy or Daddy could open. Her coat was on, her shoes were kind of on and a book was dangling from her fingers. The Polar Express.

He smiled. It was the only present she was given to open after dinner since she had been such a good girl.

Generally speaking she was a good girl. Mackenzie figured it was because she wanted her gifts. Will may or may not have told her that if she wasn't good until both Mommy and Daddy were up, he could have Charlie call Santa and her gifts would be returned. Mackenzie hit him that night for lying to her child, but she was doing the same every time she brought up Santa.

"You ready?" Will asked, his hand on the door. Faith nodded eagerly and Will pushed it open, watching as she stepped over the threshold and out a couple of feet.

Will dropped down into the wicker chair and pulled Faith up and into his lap. She tucked her head under his chin and curled her tiny hands into his jacket.

He could see the light hue of the sun rising over the city. The purple mixing into the blue and mixing into the dark sky. Soon enough it would be orange and red mixing in with the purple.

"Daddy?" Faith questioned, her voice sleepy. He smiled. He figured they'd get to the book later.

He had bundled them up under the throw blanket he pulled off the floor and brought it out. It was Mackenzie's favorite thing to have when she and Faith curled up on the couch reading a book. It smelled like Mac and smelled like Faith too. The light scent of the girl's shampoo and Mackenzie's perfume.

"I love Christmas," she admitted.

"It's a good holiday," He agreed.

"It has snow," she said in a deep sigh. She was beginning to drift.

Will himself was almost asleep, his body relaxed, even with the weight of his daughter on him.

"Merry Christmas," she muttered, before sniffling and curling into him more. He tucked her in under the blanket and pressed his lips against the crown of her head.

"Merry Christmas," he returned. Or at least he thought he did.

Mackenzie found them an hour or so later, the sun above the skyline in front of them. She pressed her hand to Faith's back, wakening her up enough for the girl to crawl into her mother's arms.

_It's a magic carpet on a rail, never takes a rest. Flying through the mountains and the snow. Ride for free and join the fun, if you just say yes! Cause that's the way things happen on the Polar Express. _


	3. I'll Be Home For Christmas

_Thank you all for the reviews! I am sorry I didn't post anything last night. I was distracted and didn't post. But. Hopefully in the upcoming days I'll be able to post two in a day. So look forward to that._

The song of the day is I'll be Home For Christmas sung by She and Him. Look it up. It's good.

Anyway. On with the story and please continue on with the reviews. 

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_Faith Age: 21_

He knew it was a ridiculous idea to have her book her flight two days before Christmas, get on a plane technically the morning of Christmas Eve in England and then travel back in time essentially to be home by Christmas Eve in New York. Mackenzie wasn't planning on having a big party like she usually did and was not at all in the mood to celebrate.

Faith called every day, multiple times a day and talked to both himself and Mackenzie. Faith coming home for Christmas to stay was a surprise for Mackenzie. She thought that Faith would come home after the holidays, after the first of the year and start up at school again. But Faith was supposed to be arriving at JFK now. And he lied to Mackenzie as to why they were there and as they made their way through the airport she was putting together the pieces fast. Too fast for his taste.

He had seen the blonde coming off the plane through the large window that belonged to the airport and he practically drug his wife through the crowd, avoiding the questioning looks from the patrons who were realizing who exactly this guy was.

The crowds parted and there she was in a pair of jeans and this plaid jacket that she bought before she left for Europe. Her leather duffle bag was thrown over her shoulder, her suitcase dragging behind her.

Mackenzie froze next to Will, her hand stopping at his wrist at the sight of her daughter. He took a risk at looking down at her, at Mackenzie and he saw the tears forming in her eyes.

"Look at you," Mackenzie whispered. It was like it had been years instead of months. "You've grown."

Faith rolled her eyes and yet still went to Mackenzie, wrapping her arms around Mackenzie's shoulders.

Faith grinned at her father over her mother's shoulder and Will nodded, knowing that after Mackenzie went to sleep, after Faith attempted to do so, he'd have time with her later.

Mackenzie wouldn't let go of Faith's hand, begging the girl to tell her about her trips in Europe. They had gotten the postcards and the emails filled with her pictures, but it wasn't the same. Faith was always so animated in her telling of stories that the pictures and the emails were never enough.

It was just the two of them after they came home. Their heads were dropped, stories being shared and it didn't matter to him. He just enjoyed watching them together. Watching how visually Faith looked like Will, but personality and mannerisms –they all belonged to Mackenzie. And that intrigued him.

"Daddy is staring again," Faith said, catching his attention this time. He looked up and when Faith smiled at him he returned it.

"You talking about me, again?" Will asked, rising from behind his desk and coming to the couch.

Cupping Mackenzie's head, he pressed a kiss to her hair before sitting down between her and Faith. He let his hand drop onto Mackenzie's bent knee, his thumb running across the bone. She shifted, shaking her head lightly and straightened out her leg over Will's lap. It was something Faith was used to. Her parent's closeness.

"Since you guys didn't get a tree this year, can we go to Rockerfeller?" Faith asked. She was already getting off the couch, reaching for her thick coat. "Please?"

"It's like she's five again," Will muttered before getting off the couch himself and helping Mackenzie up as well.

"She was cute then," Mackenzie said, running a hand over his chest. "She's cute now."

Will nodded and tilted his head to the door. Mackenzie nodded and followed Faith to the door, pausing enough to allow Will to help get her coat on.

Rockefeller Center was always gorgeous around Christmas time. With the angels and their horns, the Christmas tree lit up and the ice rink; he loved taking Faith here when she was small. She was always in love with the skaters who practiced during the year and then came here to show off.

It was what prompted Faith to get ice skating lessons until she was fourteen and then when she started high school it stopped. It was something about it not being cool and it was Sloan who pulled it out of her that it wasn't a cool thing to do.

"Mom, you want to come skate?" Faith asked, already veering towards the rink. She gave it up but once a year she gave into the temptation of fresh ice and a good pair of skates.

Mackenzie eyed the rink and then eyed her husband. Will was smirking. Mackenzie in a pair of skates was a recipe for disaster.

"We don't want to give your mother a reason to be publically ridiculed," Will said, fully anticipating the smack that came following his statement. The woman he married could pack a punch.

"We'll watch you," Mackenzie bargained and Faith nodded.

They usually did anyway. Will had his back turned to the rink, waiting for Faith to yell at him and instead it was a shoulder tap.

He turned around and it was like he jumped back twelve years and his 9 year old daughter was looking up at him with wide, confused eyes.

Then she said something that was very much Mackenzie like.

"I forgot my wallet at home," Faith admitted, pulling her bottom lip in between her teeth. "Can you pay for my skates, Daddy?"

Will rolled his eyes and felt Mackenzie push on his back, getting him to go. Of course he would pay. He would always be able to pay. But with age came responsibility. Mackenzie made Faith save up every dollar she could while she worked at ACN over the summer between classes and put it into a bank account that Faith wasn't able to touch for another four years. Faith had spending money, working the job at school in the library, and she liked to spend her money on things. But she asked and when he did, Will never felt like telling her to use her own. He had plenty to give.

"I won't keep him long," Faith told Mackenzie, wrapping her arm into Will's, winking at her mother.

Will heard the breathy laugh and assumed Mackenzie gave her daughter the eye roll that went with that laugh.

It wasn't a long walk to the booth where Faith would get her skates. It just seemed to take forever because of the families who were there, wanting to get in the last skate before the little kids had to get home before Santa came.

"I wish I had my camera," Faith said, looking up at her Dad. Faith pointed at the woman across the rink now, looking up at the tree.

Mackenzie.

"She would hate that you got her," Will pointed out. Faith nodded. She knew. "But I think she would have liked having that captured."

Faith nodded again and yet said nothing.

"Your mom is really happy you're home," Will said, putting his wallet away after handing the kid behind the booth cash.

Faith nodded and smiled, heading towards a bench to sit and put on her skates. New York was cold. It always, usually was around Christmas. The ice rink only chilled the immediate area by ten degrees.

"You seemed so surprise that I was home," Faith admitted to her father. "Like – when I told you what I was planning you seemed so surprise that I wanted to come home for Christmas."

Will sighed and dropped his head. "You're an adult now, Faith. You have your own life. Do I want you home? Absolutely. Will it prevent me from having a heart attack thinking your shacking up with a guy instead of sleeping in your own bed? One hundred percent. But, you have your life and school and friends – one day you're going to be over on Christmas morning around lunch time because that's when you were able to fit me and your mom in."

"Oh Daddy," Faith sighed, shoving her foot into a boot and lacing up the strings. She did the same with the other shoes and stood, handing her father her shoes like she did when she was a child. They were loosely hanging off the tips of her fingers.

"New York is my home," she smiled. "I'll always be home for Christmas."

She placed a kiss to his cheek before straightening and going onto the ice, high fiving her mother as she passed Mackenzie.

_I'll be home for Christmas. You can count on me. Please have snow and mistletoe and presents on the tree. Christmas Eve will find me with a love like glee. _


	4. It's Over, Faith

_Many thanks to the people who sent me reviews. I appreciate them. _

_This one is a little less happy and more of Will being a parent and trying to be different from his father. _

Please keep sending me reviews. I appreciate them!

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_Stop Fighting, Faith – Age: 18_

It was something both he and Mackenzie agreed on when Faith turned 8. She was able to go to her friend's house for their family Christmas party. Lunch had been a festive affair, wrapping presents for her friends, for the people at ACN who would be over the next morning. Faith, no longer a minor, agreed to come home at a reasonable hour instead of in the middle of the night, thus waking up the entire neighborhood.

Will was coming back from the restroom when his phone rang. Wincing, he watched as Mackenzie rolled over, looking for the sound. He picked it up, ready to silence it when the name flashed on the screen.

_Faith_.

It wasn't like her to call in the middle of the night, especially when he heard her come home. He did hear her come home right?

Will shook his head slipped out of the bedroom, padding down the hallway to the end where Faith's room resided. The door was always unlocked, despite the arguments, and when Will pushed the door open, expecting to see the lump in the middle of the bed that usually was Faith, dread immediately filled him.

He didn't have to look at the pad of his phone when it rang again. He knew who it was. He didn't need to look.

"Where the hell are you?" Will snapped into his phone, his voice raised, irate, and scared.

There was no _easy_ way to explain to Mackenzie that their 18-year-old daughter was sitting in a holding cell for being disorderly, under the influence and assaulting a cop. There was just no way.

Angry was not something Mackenzie McAvoy was and when she was angry, it wasn't pretty. She had gotten dressed in anger, throwing her shoes to the floor, slipping her feet into them as she threw open the door, not bothered by the loud clang as the wood hit the wall. Will could see that she wanted to cry, that the tears were there, but they never fell. Her shoulders shook as she slipped her coat on, storming down the front steps and slipping into the car.

She was the first person out of the car when Will pulled up to the police station, an empty spot right in front. Good. It might be needed when the scrawny kid nearby with his cellphone texted his friend that he saw the guy from News Nite going in by himself and coming out with his daughter. All it was going to take, for Mackenzie to blow her lid was a reporter with a camera.

"Ma'am, I can't –" Will heard coming around the corner, through the double glass doors, leading into the lobby of the precinct.

With his wallet already in hand, he took note of the police officer and slipped it back into his pants. The officer was just a kid, some new officer who got stuck behind the desk because everyone with seniority was at home celebrating.

"Sir, if you can contain your wife," the kid said. Will snapped his eyes up from his wife to the officer behind the desk and gave him a good glare. It shut the kid right up.

"I need to take my daughter home," Will said. "Her name is –"

"Faith McAvoy," The kid said, already pulling out her purse from behind the counter and sliding it through the little hole in the gate. "This is hers."

Will nodded, took it and silently handed it back to Mackenzie who took it immediately.

"Is she being charged for anything?" Will asked, filling out the information on the sheet the kid slid over.

"She'll be fined for being disorderly," The kid said, taking the clipboard and handing Will another piece of paper to fill out. "And this – I'm not going to charge her for assaulting a cop either."

Will raised his eyes up, looking at the kid through the eyelashes. "Why is that?"

"Because I wasn't on duty at the time," the kid said. "I was at the same party Faith was, sir, and she was - is - wasted."

"Then why didn't you just bring her home?" Will asked. "Since you know the rules of underage drinking."

"Someone else arrested her," the kid swallowed. "I just followed behind in my car and came into work."

"How convenient," Will muttered, shoving the clipboard back at him. "Get my daughter out of holding."

"Yes sir," the kid nodded.

Will had to give the kid, Officer Fitzgerald, props for standing up to him. It was out of his hands when someone else took over, Will got that. But what he didn't get was how Faith was so _drunk_, allowed to go outside when the house was probably _full_ of underage drinking.

Reaching out to Mackenzie, to press a hand against her back, surprised for the second time tonight when Mackenzie shrugged it away.

"I –" Mackenzie said, shaking her head. "Right now I can't have you touch me."

Will raised an eyebrow at her, dropping it only when the metal gate slid open with a loud screech. Deafening to most, unnerving to Will.

"Mom!" Faith yelled excitedly. "Daddy!"

Will didn't need to feel Mackenzie stiffen, her face no doubt slipping into an unreadable mask. His feet planted themselves when Mackenzie took a step forward, thrusting Faith's purse into her daughter's grasp.

Truth be told, Faith looked like absolute shit. Hair was all over the place, the make-up that Mackenzie and her spent so much time on ended up smeared under her eyes, down her cheeks and it didn't help that Faith reeked of something other than alcohol.

"In this order," Mackenzie said, snapping at Faith when the girl looked away with a dazed look. "Get in the car, into the shower when you get home, and then to bed. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes your highness," Faith remarked, giving her mother a fake bow.

Will snatched Mackenzie's arm in mid swing, preventing her from hitting her child and spending a night in a jail cell herself.

"Why don't we all get in the car?" Will suggested.

Faith, with a flip of her hair and a head tilt of pure arrogance, she strutted out of the precinct, her parents trailing behind her.

The car ride was silent, except Faith's occasional outburst of giggles from the back seat of their car. Will pulled in to the parking garage and waited until Faith crawled out of the car, stumbling more like it. She slammed herself into the gate, her hand slipping on the gold knob that would put her on the street.

Will bit his tongue, preventing himself from going to help her. She had to learn. That's what he kept repeating to himself. Mackenzie was having none of Faith's drunken, drugged, antics. She was already up the front stairs of their brownstone and in the front door. Probably heading back to bed.

Will waited for Faith to stumble in and she did, giggling.

"Stop it," Will ordered, shouting at Faith, stopping the girl in her tracks. "What the hell do you think you were doing, Faith?"

"I wasn't doing anything!" Faith yelled back, no doubt waking up a few people nearby.

"Then explain to me why you're high and drunk, Faith," Will said, throwing his hands up in the air. He shook his head and waved his hand, putting the other one on his hip. "You're grounded."

"What?" Faith exclaimed, her eyes wide. "You can't do that, I'm 18, I'm an adult!"

Will was in her face with surprising speed, his fists clenched at his side. This would be a time his father would crack him across the face. Will wanted Faith to shake her, to make her wake up, to get her to realize what she did.

"You _fucked_ up, Faith," Will snapped at her, her eyes going wide in surprise. "Your mother – you failed, Faith. You failed at being an adult."

Faith said nothing, her eyes watering.

"Go," Will pointed, down the hallway towards the bathroom. "Don't puke on my tile."

Horrible, wasn't the correct word to describe the feeling he felt when he crawled into bed about ten minutes after Faith finished puking, showered and put herself to bed. Mackenzie was still awake. She was sitting up in bed, the night-light on, her glasses being taken off her nose. A book sat discarded on her bedside table.

She put her hand up, not wanting to talk about it. Mackenzie would give Faith a lecture when she least expected it. Faith herself would beat herself up over it. They both knew that. But still. Mackenzie wanted to mother of her daughter and that was how she did it.

Mackenzie curled herself into Will, promptly falling asleep. It took him a while to, but he did. He wanted to make sure Faith was okay, that she wasn't – he just wanted to make sure she was okay.

Faith was an adult now. Actions were often followed by consequences. Faith was going to have to learn. But she was also his baby girl. The constant battle wasn't going end with a result of Victory.

Merry, freaking, Christmas.

_So this is Xmas and what have you done? Another year over and a new one just begun. _


End file.
